Leaving the Moon Pool, Lynd quickly crossed the street, went to the waterfront, boarded a small boat prepared in advance, and directly controlled the boat with psychokinesis like a speedboat, heading towards the island where the Sea King's Palace was located.
The island where the Sea King's Palace is located is in the northeast corner of Braavos, and the island is full of steep cliffs, unsuitable for building any structures.
However, the builders of the Sea King's Palace used these steep cliffs to build the foundation of the Sea King's Palace on top of them, making it a palace suspended high in the air.
The entire palace stands independently on the island, with only two arch bridges connecting it to the Iron Bank on the south side.
To reach the Sea King's Palace, ordinary people must first pass through the strict defenses of the Iron Bank guards, traverse the Iron Bank's layers of traps, reach the high-altitude stone bridge, then pass through the sentry guards in the middle of the bridge, and finally arrive at the forecourt of the Sea King's Palace, which is guarded by elite warriors forming the Sea King's Guard.
Even if they successfully pass the inspection of the Sea King's Guard, the Sea King's Palace garden behind it is still a difficult challenge, as it houses a large number of rare and exotic animals from all over the world, most of which are very dangerous and lethal, such as scorpion-tailed beasts.
Only after passing through so many checkpoints can one reach the Sea King's residence, which is located on the northern cliff of the Sea King's Palace, also the highest point in all of Braavos. From here, one can not only see the entirety of Braavos but also the sea outside Braavos. During wartime, this is also the best lookout point.
Lynd steered the small boat to the waters below the observation deck of the Sea King's Palace, looked up at the steep mountain peaks and straight foundation stones in front of him, and directly activated the power of the Nameless King Rune, forming a Storm Dragon Rune, creating a whirlwind that lifted him into the air and propelled him towards the observation deck.
Soon, he flew to the lower edge of the observation deck and landed on a gargoyle's waterspout.
Standing on the gargoyle's head, Lynd straightened his body, peered out, and looked through the gaps in the stone railing at the edge of the observation deck to observe the situation inside.
He saw that there were about seven or eight people guarding around the Sea King's house. Because the guarded location was the northern cliff, which everyone believed no one could climb, the Sea King's Guard on duty were not particularly focused.
In addition to the Sea King's Guard stationed at fixed positions, there was also a patrol team consisting of dozens of Sea King's Guard who would periodically walk out from the corridor leading to the Sea King's residence to patrol here before returning.
Lynd observed for a while, and after confirming the patrol pattern and the situation of the guards, he took out a small wax-sealed ball from his waist pocket, crushed it, and the powder wrapped inside instantly dispersed.
However, these powders, scattered in the air, were loose but not chaotic under the gentle breeze created by Lynd. Under his control, they merged into the breeze and swept towards the guards at fixed positions and the patrol team that had just come out of the corridor.
When the powder swept over these people, they only felt that the surrounding scent was a bit unusual and did not realize that they had been ambushed. It was not until that patrol team walked near Lynd that the medicine took effect, and they all fell down on the spot, sinking into a deep sleep.
Lynd flipped onto the platform, then, following the Sea King's Palace map given by Jaqen, walked towards the Sea King's residence. As he walked, he crushed one sleeping powder ball after another, allowing them to join the gentle breeze he controlled, advancing with him.
Inside the Sea King's Palace, one Sea King's Guard after another fell like wooden figures. Some noticed something was wrong but had no time to react, while others seemed to have undergone some training and had a certain degree of drug resistance, but this resistance was not particularly strong; they only lasted a little longer than the others before also falling unconscious.
It wasn't until Lynd arrived outside the Sea King's study that he stopped using the sleeping powder, instead transferring it to the garden in front of the Sea King's Palace.
The Sea King was currently in his study. He had already detected the unusual movement outside, and inside the study, there were over a dozen personal guards, including Quorro, protecting him.
The main reason Lynd did not continue using the powder was that if the powder reached the study, the Sea King would surely also be affected. With the powder's effect, even if he threw the Sea King into the water, he would not wake up, and at that point, facing an unconscious Sea King, he would not be able to ask anything.
By listening to their breathing, Lynd determined how many people were in the study and their approximate positions. He then stepped forward and directly pushed open the study door.
Though called a study, it was actually a small library, with rows of bookshelves neatly arranged in concentric circles within the room. In the very center of the room were a few chairs and a desk, appearing somewhat simple.
At this moment, the Sea King stood beside the desk, with Chief Swordsman Quorro standing in front of him, and a dozen Water Dancer masters guarding around, their longswords all unsheathed and tightly gripped in their hands.
When they saw Lynd push the door open and walk in, they all showed nervous expressions, as they all knew who the newcomer was.
"Sea King Ferrego Antaryon," Lynd said, looking at the somewhat corpulent middle-aged man with rings covering his fingers.
"Divine Chosen One Linde Terra," Ferrego also stated Lynd's identity.
Lynd looked at the surrounding guards and said, "Put away your weapons! I am not your enemy. If I were to act, you would all be dead by now. I am not threatening you; I am merely stating a fact."
Then, he looked at Ferrego, who was feigning composure, and said, "I also didn't want to meet you in this manner. Originally, I just wanted to quietly meet you without alarming anyone. Yet, you chose to grandly expose me and even sent people to pursue me. I truly don't know what you were thinking, forcing me to use extraordinary means to meet you. Are you very satisfied?"
Upon hearing Lynd's lecturing tone, Ferrego couldn't help but want to retort, but he didn't know how, because what Lynd said was true; everything was his own doing.
Then, Lynd very directly stated, "I am here for that set of magic armor in your possession."
"I know," Ferrego also spoke, "I knew the moment I bought the armor."
"Then why did you still buy it?" Lynd asked directly.
Ferrego was speechless, stumped by the question.
Lynd spoke without any superfluous words, very directly, "Take me to your treasury! Let's finish this quickly. I'm feeling a bit homesick."
Lynd's tone greatly displeased Ferrego. From the moment he became Sea King, no one had dared to speak to him in such a nearly commanding tone.
However, he was unable to make any move to retort, because just as Lynd said, even though he was now protected by so many powerful guards, he felt no sense of security.
"Put away your weapons!" Ferrego took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and then commanded, "Quorro, follow me. Everyone else, stay here."
After speaking, he stepped out from the protection of his guards. Quorro immediately hurried to follow, and as he passed Lynd, he couldn't help but look at Lynd, his hand involuntarily resting on the scimitar at his waist, looking as if he wanted to see if he could deliver a fatal blow to Lynd at such close range.
Quorro's subtle movement was fully observed by Lynd, who deliberately exposed his vital areas as if completely unguarded, showing no concern.
Ultimately, Quorro still did not dare to act, not because he saw through Lynd's disguise, but because if he acted and succeeded, it would be fine, but if he failed, it would implicate the Sea King, which was not the behavior of a qualified guard.
The group entered through a secret door in a room, passed through a spacious spiral staircase, and arrived at the underground palace of the Sea King's Palace.
Upon entering the palace, they saw approximately fifty Sea King's Guard, clad in full plate armor and wielding long axes, stationed within. Upon seeing Ferrego enter, they all simultaneously bowed to him.
At this moment, Ferrego thoughtfully turned his head to look at Lynd behind him, seemingly considering whether these men could now take down Lynd.
Ultimately, he gave up, because he remembered the poison Lynd used to incapacitate his guards. If Lynd still possessed such poison, let alone fifty guards in full plate armor, even a hundred or a thousand would probably not be enough for him to take down.
At this moment, he completely abandoned the idea of finding an opportunity to counterattack and decided to honestly take Lynd to the Sea King's treasury.
Soon, Ferrego walked through the underground palace and reached the other end.
This was a massive bronze door, about four meters high and six meters wide. On either side of the door sat several blind men, beside whom was a wheel-shaped push rod resembling a millstone.
Ferrego walked to the door, took out a hexagonal box from his bosom, and then rotated some knobs on the box. Several pointed teeth gradually extended from inside the box, forming an irregular key bit.
Then, he walked to the doorway, inserted the box into the keyhole on the door. After each tooth was inserted, it would rotate a knob according to different degrees, until all the gears on the box were inserted into the keyhole.
After inserting the key, Ferrego tapped a bell on the bronze door and then retreated a few steps.
The blind men on both sides heard the bell, stood up, and grasped the wheel-shaped push rods. Like donkeys pulling a mill, they pushed the turntable to rotate both clockwise and counter-clockwise.
A series of mechanical sounds emanated from the bronze door, and then the heavy bronze door slowly opened.
The moment the door opened, the whale-oil lamps, activated by a mechanism, instantly lit up, illuminating the entire treasury. Display cases appeared before Lynd's eyes, showcasing various exquisite treasures: porcelain vases from the Golden Empire of Yi Land, gemstone jewelry from Slaver's Bay, and numerous strange ancient artifacts.
These were the accumulated wealth of successive Sea Kings; each generation would add something, but retrieving it required cumbersome procedures, so the treasury's contents grew increasingly vast. In terms of value alone, the items here were not much inferior to the wealth within the Iron Bank.
However, after the door opened, everyone except Lynd was not drawn by the treasures before them, but rather shivered involuntarily, as they felt an extremely cold chill emanating from the treasury, which quickly spread throughout the entire underground palace, causing the temperature of the underground palace to instantly plunge into winter.
They then discovered that the Sea King's treasury seemed to have become a cold storage room, with white cold mist pervading it and a layer of ice congealed on the ground.
"What's going on?" Sea King Ferrego stared dumbfounded at everything before him, clearly startled by the scene.
However, Lynd remained calm. He could sense the magic of the Ice Dragon Rune emanating from the chilling aura.
Then, he stepped directly into the treasury and walked towards the source of the magic he sensed.
Behind him, Ferrego saw Lynd enter the treasury first, and his gaze involuntarily turned to the open bronze door, seemingly wanting to do something.
But he ultimately suppressed the impulse in his heart, because Lynd gave him a truly mysterious feeling. He didn't know how many more miraculous methods Lynd had yet to employ, and he also felt that even if he used the bronze door to trap Lynd inside the treasury, Lynd would find a way to get out. At that point, he and Lynd would likely become mortal enemies, with no room for reconciliation.
Therefore, he ultimately abandoned that tempting idea and followed behind Lynd into the treasury.
While he was still wondering how Lynd knew the location of the magic armor in the treasury, the three of them had already arrived in front of the magic armor.
At this moment, the magic armor was completely encased in a thick layer of ice. Although the ice obstructed the view, Lynd could still clearly see the armor's full appearance.
As the rumors said, the armor's surface was inlaid with a large number of gems, making it look incredibly magnificent, yet also extremely vulgar.
Just like the patterns and Dragon Runes on the Lost Country Knight armor on the storm god statue, the patterns and Dragon Runes on the surface of this armor had also undergone extensive modifications, creating many wrong strokes and breakpoints, thereby causing it to lose its intended function, turning it into a mere decoration. The part of this armor that truly functioned was the Valyrian steel plate inlaid in the chest, on which a complete Ice Dragon Rune was carved.
Seeing the magic armor in this state, Lynd immediately understood that Kohor had only imitated the appearance of a Lost Country Knight armor, while its magical components were based on the Ice Dragon Rune necklace he had made for the Stone Giant.
However, Stone Giants are a magical race themselves, with a certain ability to regulate magic in their bodies. When wearing the Ice Dragon Rune necklace, they can adjust the frozen magic within the necklace, keeping it in a state of magical balance and preventing an extremely strong freezing effect.
However, the craftsmen and sorcerers of Kohor very simply and crudely embedded the Ice Dragon Rune necklace directly into the imitation armor. This led to a continuous accumulation of magic within the Dragon Rune necklace, ultimately forming a source of cold.
This current situation is merely the beginning. As time passes day by day, the magic accumulated by the Ice Dragon Rune will continue to increase, and the freezing range will also expand, eventually turning the entire underground treasury into a solid block of ice, which is not impossible.
However, Lynd was not at all interested in what the Ice Dragon Rune would ultimately lead to. His mind was now more occupied with wondering where his own magic armor was.
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